by Gabrielle G.
“Have you found a place to stay?”
I shake my head. I was stubborn when I decided not to take the offer Bella made me. Living at the farm for free, as tempting as it can be, is not a long-term plan with Barnabas fucking all around it and a four-year-old’s adventurous and curious mind. I was hoping something would become available. Now that I only have a few days to vacate my ex’s wife’s place, I don’t think there are a lot of options. Live in my car and lose Alexis forever or move into the Gritt's farm. “Well, find a place and fast.”
Thank you Captain Obvious. Seriously, he’s not worth his rate. I should have listened to my mother and called Bella’s son-in-law; I just try not to depend on Barnabas’ family too much. They have been more than generous in the past, babysitting for me, helping me with weddings, trying to assist me in any way they can, and I always feel like the fuck-up everybody needs to support. I hate this. I hate being in debt to people. Asking Barnabas for a favor today was the most painful thing I have had to do in a while. My pride has been stomped upon for years and trying to do it all on my own is all I have left.
“Are you sure there isn’t someone you are with—a fiancé, a boyfriend—who could corroborate your side of the story, even a best friend, your mother, all of the above? It’s going to be important to have people backing you up if you don’t want him to see your daughter.”
“What if I agree to it?” I’m losing hope, once again.
“Then it’s easier. I mean, he’s the father after all, and he has the right to see Alexis whenever he wants.”
“He can have a change of heart after four years, and nobody cares. Nobody gives a shit that Alexis doesn’t know her father and never spent a minute alone with him. She spent more time with some of my friends than with him. She’s now with someone I don’t especially care about but that she adores, and I would rather leave her with him for a long weekend than with her biological father. Nobody cares about that, though, because he discharged his barrel inside me, made a kid he didn’t want, and tricked me into believing he gave a damn. This is bullshit.” I rise from my chair and start pulling at my thin hair.
“Ms. Dubois, please understand I’m just here to give you the facts and help you navigate through what could become a nasty custody battle. You pay me to be on your side.”
“So, tell me what to do!” I fall back into the chair, beaten down.
“Find a place to live, show you have a stable life, and that you have enough money to care for your daughter. Accept shared custody. No judge is going to sign for it without some initial weekly visits. Alexis and her father are first going to meet wherever you live so your child will be comfortable. Then, they will get to know each other step-by-step, and it’s only after a little while that he will be able to take her for a weekend first and then the full week. At least that’s what I’m going to propose. Do you agree with that plan?” No, of course not.
“I guess.” I shrug, not seeing how I have any choice in the matter.
“Good, I’ll call you,” he says, showing me the door.
Because when life goes to shit, you have no choice but to step in it. Noah is, of course, leaning on my car, waiting for me when I come out of the lawyer’s office. He looks good. The same way he looked when we were together. Not handsome but not ugly. Charming with a slight beer belly and strong shoulders, but dimples and eyes that could burn up my panties faster than God burns bushes.
“Ave.” He smiles. Two years ago, his smile would have made me melt in a puddle of desire. I would have been the cheeriest girl on Earth, jumped in his arms, kissed him senseless, and hope that it meant he finally left his wife. Today, I want to punch the fuck out of him and scratch his eyeballs. Such a difference two years can make.
“Asshole!” I greet him, trying to shove him away from the door.
“Please, be reasonable. All I want is a chance to know my daughter.” He steps toward me, rolling his shoulder and swaying his hips with the arrogance of a feline in the savanna. Next, he’ll fall on the floor, rise a leg up, and start to lick his asshole. That’s what jerks do; they lick their pristine anus clean because they think their shit doesn’t stink. “You had four years. Why the change of heart now?” His smile falls, and he looks as constipated as a vegan.
“Paulette and I have been trying for a while...”
“So, you want my child to compensate for the lack of yours?”
“Our child.”
I ignore his comment. “Do you want me to be a surrogate also while we’re at it?” I cross my arms over my chest, and his eyes fall quickly to my breasts. He licks his lips, and I can see the glimmer I know too well in his eyes. Fucking pig.
“Would you?” Is he for real asking me to carry the child he can’t have with his wife? Maybe Paulette and I can become sister wives, live in a compound, and finally find our happily ever after.
“I won’t!” I try to push him away, but he doesn’t budge.
“Why not? We’ll pay you. It’s not like you have a boyfriend or a husband. Alexis could have a half-sibling, and you can certainly use some cash to help you get a better car.” He taps the roof of my sedan with his knuckles. Insanity, that’s what all this is. How I could have been in love with him for over five years is inexplicable. As inexplicable as what comes out of my mouth next.
“I’m seeing someone.” I can see in his eyes he doesn’t believe me, and it infuriates me that he knows me so well. It only reminds me how much I gave him, how much time I lost on him. I know I should say I shouldn’t regret it because, otherwise, I wouldn’t have Alexis, but a part of me does regret sleeping with him for so long, and I especially regret the years after she was born. “Alexis is with him right now,” I add. “In fact, he has been in her life for a while now.” It’s his turn to cross his arms. I smirk which makes him even more pissed.
“And telling me a man I don’t know is in my daughter’s life never occurred to you?” I roll my eyes. I don’t think it’s any of his business if I’m in a non-relationship with the town slut.
“Well, do you want to come and meet him right now? He might not be the most welcoming when it comes to you, but I’m sure he can be civil…”
Noah finally moves his ass from the door and opens it for me.
“Let’s go meet this guy then…” He scowls, barely containing his jealousy.
“You’ll follow me? We’ll be going to the Gritt’s farm.” It’s hard to keep my disgust in check, knowing what I will have to do once we get there.
“Gritt? Like in Barnabas Gritt?” Barn’s reputation is known throughout the county. I nod so my voice doesn’t betray my embarrassment. Noah laughs.
“Your new boyfriend is the state whore? Avery, I knew you were desperate to lock down a husband, but I never thought you would stoop so low.” It’s funny how you can dislike someone but hate it even more when someone else puts them down. Coming closer to Noah, I do what I have never done to any man before. I put my hands on his shoulders and bring my knee to his balls. Satisfactory at least, orgasmic at best. And while Noah curls up in pain on the pavement, I jump in my car and drive to the Gritts, getting some precious minutes in on a head start to be sure I can explain the situation to Barnabas before Noah barges in.
6
Barnabas
My back is killing me.
Sitting for too long will usually do that to me, but slouching on the sofa with a parcel of sleepy cuteness on my chest without inhaling my pain medication is insufferable. Nonetheless, I’m stuck, watching a mermaid show while Lex is snoring on top of me. I won’t move an inch. She needs her rest, and I’m glad she feels comfortable enough to fall asleep on me. I don’t know why, but since the first day she met me, we got along. I mean, I love kids, and I’m great with them. Probably, as my sister says, because I’m as emotionally developed as they are, but Alexis kind of stole my heart from the moment I laid eyes on her.
She was this tiny cautious two-year-old my mother was trying to talk to. I rolled in not really knowing what was
going on, and all of a sudden, I had a kid hanging on to my leg, trying to hide from everybody around. I scooped her up and fell deep into her big and scared eyes. Avery was already running toward us, insulting my hygiene and the germs I could spread to her daughter, but Lex and I stayed connected, and we understood each other. She was scared, but she was asking me to make it better. I was always troubled, and I knew that little girl and I could be friends. So, I befriended a two-year-old that day and always try to spend a little time with her here and there when Avery brings her around. Which is not that much, if I'm honest, because she finds my immaturity a lousy example for Lex. Whatever.
A very frazzled Avery rushes in, pulling on her hair with an iron fist. No wonder she always looks like she just woke up. That woman doesn’t take care of herself. I know I’m an ass to even think about it, seeing as she’s a single mother with little time or money, but for fuck’s sake, a little rosemary oil in her shampoo would undoubtedly help her not to look like she dropped faded red dye on her head.
“Shhhh,” I whisper, waving my hand from the couch, so she doesn’t wake up her daughter. “She fell asleep two episodes ago, and I didn’t want to wake her up.”
“Great, now she won’t sleep tonight. And the days continue toward the highway to hell.” She sneers my way. “I don’t have time for that. Can you be my fake-boyfriend for the next fifteen minutes? Noah is on his way, and I kind of told him that we're seeing each other.” I choke on my own saliva.
“Sorry, what?” I try to put the words in the right order for the sentence to make sense, but it still doesn’t once I’ve tried every combination possible.
“You hate me, Ave. Why the fuck would you tell him we’re together? I haven’t been with anyone serious in almost fifteen years, and I’m pretty sure douchebag Noah knows it too. It makes no sense.” She scrunches her nose and closes her eyes the same as Lex does when she knows she did something she wasn’t supposed to and then sighs heavily.
“I know,” she mumbles with her eyes still closed. “Believe me, Barn, I know. He just assumed I was single, and after throwing me out of the apartment, asking for shared custody, and now asking me to be his surrogate, I just blurted out we were together. Which is no good, not good at all, but I need your help because he’s on his way and…” She opens one eye and looks at me. “Pleeease.” She winces as if begging me was like pulling a tooth out. I love begging girls, they are my kryptonite. Yet, my dick doesn’t get hard right now, but it’s only because it’s Avery begging and I have her daughter sleeping on me. I nod, just in time for a knock to announce the arrival of her ex. She walks toward the door and mouths a ‘thank you’ as she opens it wide and lets him in.
“I can’t believe you kneed me in the balls, Avery. What the fuck was that?” I chuckle from the couch. You go, girl. That was long overdue.
“Ave,” I murmur, “can you keep it down. Lex is sleeping. Come here.” I reach out my hand for Avery to take it, and to my surprise, she complies without a fight. I intertwine our fingers and bring her hand to my lips to kiss it. It’s what a boyfriend would do, at least I think it is.
“What is he doing here, darling?” There is a moment of panic in her eyes, but I reassuringly squeeze her hand to let her know I got this.
“I wanted to see it for my own eyes. The state whore and stuck-up Ave in a relationship, with my daughter in the middle.”
I’m not a violent guy, I’m generally too high to give a damn anyway, but having him call Lex ‘his’ daughter and Ave stuck-up, even if I’m the one who started that nickname in high school, enrages me. Avery is now trying to soothe me, shaking her head slightly for me not to lose my legendary coolness. But the jerk clearly doesn’t know how to let it go.
“So, how long has this been a thing? From what I heard, you were with three different women last week.” He towers over me above the couch. He hasn’t looked at Alexis once yet. I touch her hair on my chest while the thumb of my other hand caresses Ave’s knuckles.
“A while,” Avery and I answer at the same time. We share a smile, as fake as Noah’s wife’s orgasms, or so I heard.
“You want me to believe Ave here is up to your kinky games and crazy plays? You forget I’ve been with her; she’s not that kind of woman.” I didn’t expect him to be jealous at the idea of Avery fucking another man.
“I see your wife shared what we experienced. She really liked it when I went deep and…” Avery shuts me up by kissing me. It’s as fast and prudish as the kiss we shared before she left, but the effect of her lips on mine is still electrifying. Houston, we might have a problem.
“There is a child in the room, hot-stuff, maybe keep the details for another time?” She looks at me with confusion, but her eyes are a shade of blue I’ve never seen before. Blue-heat.
“So what? You live here? With him?” Noah grumbles while walking toward the door.
“I do,” Avery answers, letting my hand go to follow him. Not only have I gained a fake-girlfriend in the last fifteen minutes, but a fake-roommate too. “There are two bedrooms upstairs. One for Alexis and, well, our bedroom. I still need to pick up all of our things from the apartment, but I mean, Alexis loves it here, and she loves Bella and Ridge, so it was bound to happen.” If I wasn’t stranded on the couch by the weight of forty-five pounds, I would take her into my arms to lift her up.
“I see. We’ll talk later about the arrangements.” He leans in to kiss her, but Ave steps back.
“We could have talked about an arrangement before you lawyered up, Noah. Now, we’ll speak through our lawyers,” she volleys back. I smile proudly at my fake-girlfriend.
Once he passes through the door, I shift slightly to reach for my phone and dial my best friend. Voicemail.
“Andrew, I need you to come here, pick up Ave, and help her move all the shit she needs to the barn. Call me back. Thanks.”
“What are you doing?” Avery pulls on her hair.
“I’m helping you move in. You said you needed a place to stay. You can stay here. That’s what boyfriends do, right? They take care of their girl. I’m taking care of you, darling.” I grin.
“You’re fucking insane! I’m not moving in with you, and I’m not dating you!”
“Correction, you’re fake-dating me, and you’re moving in with me. You can take the second bedroom and sleep on the futon I have in there. As soon as Lex wakes up, I’ll pick up some stuff around that aren’t toys for children, if you catch my drift, and make sure I keep them safely away from her.”
“Barnabas, we’re not fake-dating, do you hear me?” She puts her hands on her hips and scowls at me.
“For once in your freaking life, accept the hand I’m throwing you and let me help. You won’t owe me anything.”
The next seconds pass slowly while Avery ponders my offer, unquestionably wondering why I want to help her. I’m wondering myself. I mean, I know it’s not for her cunt. I won’t be granted access to it, like ever. I know it’s not because we’re friends. The only reason I see is Lex.
“Ave, when I fake-date, I fake-date hard. You need me, and you need a place to live. I know you hate my guts. Just know I’m not doing this for you, but for her, okay.” I tip my chin toward Alexis. “I promise to be fake-faithful and to fake-take care of your needs and desires. Just stay here. Noah won’t be suspicious that way, and you won’t sleep in your car.”
“I could stay at the main house,” she says, still examining me.
“You could,” I shrug, “but again, people love to gossip about me, and Noah will know you fed him a pile of horseshit. Then he’ll add liar to the list of all he’s reproaching you for, to get Lex. Just stay here. I don’t mind.”
I see the moment she gives in. It’s the same sigh women release after they’ve refused me a few times—not that this has happened for a while.
“Okay,” she bites on her lip, “but I’m setting up rules.” She rolls her eyes.
“Rule away, darling.” I smile, already knowing that in my book, rules are made to
be broken.
7
Avery
“So you two are together?” Andrew asks, eying me suspiciously.
“Yes!”—“No!” Barnabas and I answer at the same time.
“Ave,” Barnabas sighs, “we have to tell our friends at some point.”
“No, we don’t. They saw you last week sucking face and almost boning someone at the bar. Why would they believe what we have is real?”
“Because of rule number one.” Barnabas smiles. I can’t believe he’s already throwing back at me the stupid rules we wrote down less than fifteen minutes ago.
“Rule one says: Let people assume what they want about us.” I pinch my lips together and breathe heavily, trying not to let my frustration out.
“Yes, and denying it is not letting him assume.” Barnabas thrusts out his chest like the cock that he is.
“He’s your best friend!” I point at Andrew who would prefer to be anywhere but here.
“Ave, Ave, Ave.” He shakes his head with a smirk. “Just admit you failed our first test as a couple. It’s okay, Andrew here won’t hold it against you or send you to the principal, darling.” The headache that is a constant reminder that my life is shit is quickly transforming into a Barnabas-inflicted migraine. I close my eyes and start rubbing my temples, hoping for the best .
“Well,” Andrew says in a conflicted voice, “I’m happy for you two. I mean, I’m surprised you two are even on speaking terms, and it went rather fast, but…” I look at him rubbing his chin with the palm of his hand and looking at the floor as if we just asked him to decipher hieroglyphics.